Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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4' 'J 'T v QQ T v. - Q-14?-f?W . . f 11 . -Q li' f L ss re.. ' I as H Q The 20Th, amid The Thunder oT The big guns oT The USS SANTA FE, already engaged in bombarding The island and dueling wiTh Japanese shore baTTeries. The TirsT Tire Trom The TENNESSEE wenT screaming Toward BeTio's whiTe coral beach aT 0626, crashing among The enemy's clusTer oT guns guarding The sea approaches and air lanes. ReporTs reached The ship oT many planes, sTiIl abouT 45 miles disTanT, laTer proving To be Triendly. A Japanese submarine was reporTed dead ahead and desTroyers rushed like Terriers To The scene. Word Trom our paTrol- ling planes came back: The area is compleTely black. Fire conTinued Trom The TENNESSEE'S main baTTery. wiTh only shorT inTerrupTions, unTil abouT 0740, wiTh The secondary baTTery also joining in The acTion. TargeTs in- cluded a shore baTTery on NorThwesT PoinT and The beach- head area. During This phase oT The operaTion, TransporTs dis- charged Their assaulT Troops inTo landing boaTs, which moved slowly Toward The line oT deparTure under The guidance OT a desTroyer and a minesweeper. The range closed Trom l2,000 To 7,000 yards. I-I I-Iour-when landing parTies were scheduled To reach The beach was delayed unTil 0845. IT was again seT back To 0900. The big guns oT The TENNESSEE again wenT inTo acTion, preceding anoTher air sTrike seT Tor 0830. The iniTial wave oT landing boaTs headed Tor The beach and all was quieT momenTarily. AbouT 500 yards oTT The beach The T-liggins boaTs ran aground on The Treacherous reeT. Through a murderous barrage oT Japanese morTar shells and Tire Trorn auTo- maTic weapons, Marines scrambled over The sides oT The boaTs inTo waTer chin deep, wading ashore, Their weapons held high above Their heads. Few men reached The beach. Those who managed iT dove under The shelTer oT a reTaining wall. Midway on The beach was a coconuT log and coral pier, exTending Tar ouT in The lagoon. Nearby was a red Japanese ship Trom which The enemy poured a murderous Tire Trom machine guns on our landing craTT and men in The waTer. The red ship. a deaTh Trap Tor hundred oT Marines. had noT been shelled during pre-invasion bombardmenT and iT was noT unTil The Tollowing day when iT was de- sTroyed, an alerT piloT sending iT up in Tlames Trom an aerial bomb. The TENNESSEE resumed Tiring aT I054, delivering iTs big shells in a cerTain designaTed area. BoTh main and secondary baTTeries lobbed Their shells againsT TargeTs unTil II38. AT I224 Tiring again began, conTinuing unTil l3O0 when a cease Tire order was given. Air sTrikes Trom carrier planes conTinued To rake The island deTenders. Joined by The COLORADO and The screening de- sTroyers BAILEY and McKEE, The TENNESSEE pro- ceeded souThwesT oT BeTio where iT remained ThroughouT The nighT, reTurning To iTs Tire supporT area on Sunday morning, November 2I. BeTio, like many islands which Torm PaciTic aTolls, was connecTed by a road during The Time oT low Tide wiTh adjoining islands. A reporT ThaT Japs Trom BeTio were moving across To The nexT adiacenT island senT a landing parTy oT Marines To invade and occupy ThaT Tiny biT oT land laTe in The aTTernoon. The ship covered The landing buT was noT called on To Turnish Tire. No Tire was ordered on Sunday, alThough The crew wenT To general quarTers aT I334. MomenTs laTer, a large group oT planes were reporTed, laTer idenTiTied as our own. LaTe in The aTTernoon, The PorTland ioined The group To add iTs Tirepower To The already Tormidable array oT American naval mighT in The area. Again aT dusk, The TENNESSEE and COLORADO screened by The ever-presenT desTroyers BAILEY FRAZIER and ANDERSON wiThdrew, again To The souTh- wesT, To reTurn aT dawn on The morning oT November 22. Amid a scurry oT acTiviTy ThaT morning, The crew wenT To general quarTers again aT 0400 when unidenTiTied planes, I5 miles disTanT, were reporTed closing in. lnTer- cepTor planes Trom nearby carriers, hurriedly warmed up sped oTT The TlighT deck in darkness To Take up The challenge. The easTern Tip oT BeTio, knocking ouT a cosTal baTTery and covering The landing oT American Troops who were going ashore under heavy Japanese Tire. AbouT noon a landing craTT came alongside wiTh a Japanese prisoner, being held Tor quesTioning by Rear Admiral I-I. W. l-Iill, whose Tlag was being carried on The USS MARYLAND. The shore bombardmenT oT Tarawa was compleTed buT aT I748 depTh charges Torced a large Japanese sub- marines To surTace abouT I l,000 yards oTT The sTarboard beam. The sub was spoTTed by one oT The TENNESSEE'S Tive-inch gun crews when iT surTaced and 2l rounds were Tired upon iT wiTh eTTecT. The sub was being engaged aT shorTer range by The desTroyers MEADE and FRAZIER. The gaIlanT ERAZIER rammed and sank The sub, The enemy ship wiTh bow up, slowly sinking beneaTh The churn- ing PaciTic waTers. The desTroyer Then picked up survivors who had been manning a deck gun againsT iT. The TENNESSEE remained in The viciniTy oT Tarawa unTil December 3 when iT headed easT Tor Pearl I-larbor and CaliTornia. Tarawa was secure. IT had been secured aT The cosT oT many American lives, and The lessons gained in amphibious warTare had noT been purchased cheaply. The lessons had been learned however and how Thoroughly would be demonsTraTed Tully soon when The Marshall Islands would be invaded aT a Ii+Tle spiT oT sand called Kwaialein. AT 0800, The TENNESSEE delivered call Tire on

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11 Q-1 Y A, , FY, i i i 'tv i Qi 'l'G YGW The Time Tor Americas TirsT real oTTensive in The CenTral PaciTic was aT hand. The soldiers oT The Emperor had been halTed, and now Thousands oT new amphibious vessels, Tresh Trom America's quickly builT shipyards, would run onTo The whiTe coral beaches oT The PaciTic. Millions oT jungle-Trained Troops would swing inTo acTion Tor The TirsT Time. To provide a springboard Tor TuTure operaTions and To neuTralize enemy power over a wide area oT The PaciTic, liTTle Tarawa AToll became a maior obiecTive-an obiecTive whose memory will Torever burn in The hisTory OT America. Today huge bulldozers have leveled The sTouT Japanese pillboxes and Tilled The yawning shell holes and bomb craTers oT Tarawa. Rows of small while crosses above neaTly kepT mounds oT whiTe sand mark The 'final resTing place oT men who paid wiTh Their lives ThaT we mighT seize This enemy TorTiTicaTion and gain a TooThold Tor The long march To Tokyo. Leaving ETaTe in The sTeaming New l-lebrides on November I3, The USS TENNESSEE operaTed as a parT oT Task Force 53, providing pre-invasion bombardmenT and covering Tire as green-clad marines swarmed ashore aT H-l-Tour. The TENNESSEES obiecTive was Tiny BeTio lsland, lying aT The souThwesT corner oT Tarawa Moll, where The Japanese had concenTraTed Their defenses. l.iTTle more Than Two miles long and 700 yards across aT iTs widesT poinT. BeTio, like oThers in The C5ilberT group, had Tor many years been under BriTish rule, Two days aTTer Pearl l-larbor, war upseT The peace and Tranquil liTe of The 27,000 brown-skinned naTives oT The GilberTs and The Japanese hoisTed Their Rising Sun over The baking sands oT Tarawa on ChrisTmas Day, l94I. EorTiTicaTion and sTrengThening oT The newly-won islands did noT Take place unTil The Tollowing SepTember when naTives, Torced To move Their villages, labored Tor Their conquerors and hacked coconuT logs To build pill-boxes, TorTiTicaTions and aircraTT reveTmenTs oT modern war. OperaTions were seT To begin wiTh an American air sTrike againsT The island's deTenders aT 0545 November 20, To be Tollowed aT 06I5 by Tire Trom The TENNESSEES Torward TurreTs. TargeTs were To be a baTTery oT enemy six-inch guns deeply emplaced on The island's norThwesT poinT. During The Tiring, The plans called Tor The ship To move close inTo The island and circle The area, giving boTh Torward and aTT TurreTs ample opporTuniTy Tor Tiring. The naval bombardmenT phase oT The acTion was seT To end aT 0830 when Marines Trom snub-nosed landing barges would move onTo The coral beach. The Tennessee manned iTs baHle sTaTions aT 05l5 on The morning of T

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